Loose shark's fin 2020 Excel HB

[Luke717]

I hand-washed my car yesterday. The only sunny, warm-ish day we'll apparently have for the next week or so! I noticed, to my dismay, that the shark's fin at the rear of the roof is loose. It seems to be glued to the roof and It looks like it's becoming unstuck on one side. My worry is that it might come away completely or be the source of damage to the fin's innards.

As for cause, the only thing I can think of is when the car was hand washed by a reliable hand wash service before we went into lockdown. Maybe they were a bit aggressive with the washing and wiping. Since then I've washed it myself once and then yesterday and did not do anything I can recall that might have caused this. There's also the possibility that it's a bad fit at the factory, I don't know.

Main thought now, though, it getting it fixed. Is this something worth talking to the dealer about? Might it be a warranty matter? I'd appreciate your suggestions, thanks. Plus ideas on cost if I have to get it fixed myself.

 

[john p williams]

A Warranty matter ?

[FROSTYBALLS]

I'd be inclined to contact your dealer re getting it examined. Could be a warranty claim unless something has hit it (not necessarily whilst driving).

[Luke717]

@john p williams @FROSTYBALLS thanks, taking your advice

[RabButler]

My shark fin has been a loose fit since new. It's a bit disconcerting when washing the car, but was passed OK on service. The wonky bit is in fact just a cover over the tech gubbins and, as suggested above, is stuck on with double sided tape. Blue Peter made one earlier!

[Luke717]

I spoke to the selling dealer today, car booked in for a while-I-wait inspection on Monday. Let's see what they have to say.

@RabButlerI love the idea of Blue Peter involvement!

[Luke717]

I learned a few things about shark fins this morning during my chat with a bodywork expert at my Toyota dealer.

I'd imagined that the shark fin would be really securely affixed on the car's roof, maybe with some kind of Gorilla-like adhesive making it rigid, which is primarily why I became concerned about the seeming looseness of the one on my car roof that I discovered last week. Turns out that's not the case - the fin is attached to the roof via an attachment from  the fin that goes between the roof and the headliner. The part that I thought was an adhesive mount on the roof is actually a gasket (probably for waterproofing?) not the thing that fixes the fin to the roof.

I also learned that all shark fins are sort of loose. To me, 'loose' meant the fin wiggles a bit. A tiny bit. Which is what it does do. To Toyota, that's not loose 🙂 Indeed, the bodywork expert and I both wiggled fins on a handful of other Corollas and a CH-R in the dealership car park, all 20 or 21 plates. The fins all wiggled!

So I'm relieved. The expert reassured me that getting it looked at was the right thing to do. So doubly relieved!